Trump: ‘We are going to fight and win’

President Trump told supporters “we are going to fight and win” within minutes of the conclusion of former FBI Director James Comey’s bombshell testimony in which he accused the administration of lying.

Trump delivered his speech as Comey was finishing his highly anticipated testimony at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, but made no mention of the spectacle happening on Capitol Hill. 

Speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington on Thursday, Trump railed against “the entrenched interests and failed bitter voices” that have fought against the policy goals of the religious right.

“They will lie, they will obstruct, they will spread their hatred and their prejudice, but we will not back down from doing what is right,” he told a cheering crowd at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. “We are going to fight and win.”  

Trump said, “we’re under siege” but reassured the crowd that, “we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever.”

{mosads}The president mostly stayed on message during his first public comments since Comey’s testimony and made no direct mention of anything the ousted FBI chief said on Capitol Hill.

Instead, he ticked off a litany of accomplishments from his first months in office, including anti-abortion rights policies, the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and a directive that eases enforcement of a ban on political activity by religious institutions. He also touted his plan to fight terrorism.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate panel published Comey’s prepared remarks in which he recounted a detailed tell-all of his in-person meetings and phone calls with Trump.

Those remarks confirmed that Trump asked then-FBI director to drop an investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Fynn and that the president repeatedly asked for Comey’s loyalty in their interactions, prompting denials from Trump and his staff.

But Comey also confirmed he told Trump that he wasn’t personally under investigation in the probe that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.

Trump’s lawyer said Wednesday night that the president felt “vindicated” by Comey’s prepared testimony because his statement backed up Trump’s claim that he wasn’t under investigation in the agency’s Russia probe.

“The president feels completely and totally vindicated,” Marc Kasowitz said in a statement. “He is eager to move forward with his agenda.”

Kasowitz is expected to give another statement Thursday afternoon on Comey’s testimony.

Trump’s critics called portions of the Comey’s testimony damning — the former FBI director accused Trump of telling “lies” about him and added he is “sure” that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump obstructed justice in his conduct with Comey.

“The administration chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly run,” Comey said at Thursday’s hearing.

Trump was reportedly watching part of Comey’s testimony with his legal team and advisers, according to NBC News. But Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to say how much of it the president saw.

“I don’t know if he’s seen much of it,” Sanders told reporters during an off-camera briefing at the White House.

The spokeswoman said Trump had a series of meetings with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster about the diplomatic rift in the Persian Gulf and North Korea. Those sessions took up “a majority of the morning,” Sanders said.

“It’s a regular Thursday at the White House,” she said. “We are carrying on.”

Lisa Hagen contributed.